Pushing Buttons
by Animal Cracker
Summary: Not sure where this is going.
1. Chapter 1

Three weeks have past since Vincent's disappearance. This is normal for the gunslinger to disappear without a trace, but nothing has been heard of him. Always, the Great Ninja Yuffie Kisaragi was able to hunt him down and find out whether he was alive or not, but this time, Yuffie failed.

For the first two weeks, Yuffie had made it her goal to find him. She searched high and low, every dark and angsty place that resembled places Vincent liked to hide in, but she found no traces of his crimson cloak. After that, Yuffie gave up - wait, no, no. She did NOT give up, the great ninja Yuffie never gave up! She chose to have a break that's all, then she would search for her angsty companion again and this time, she would come back him in tow. For now, she rested her tired little body busting her ass off for her friend Tifa.

In one hand, Yuffie balanced a tray filled with alcoholic beverages and snacks while her other hand served the over flow of customers. The tray teetered from her palm precariously as she swirled and twirled from table to table, the tray loosing balance with each drink lifted. Despite the ninja's lack of discretion towards balance, the tray never fell once.

"HeEEy!" A drunken man who sat at the bar slurred, "Coooome oooon woMAN. I dON't have aaaaaaaaallll d-aaaAy!"

Yuffie noticed Tifa was far too busy dealing with other obnoxious drunks at the bar. She had two drinks left on her tray and decided to help her friend out.

Yuffie walked over to the man with a frown. She wasn't going to pretend to be happy for this jerk. She placed a drink on the bar in front of him. He jumped at the sudden appearance of her arm, then followed it up to her face where his gaze then traveled down and smirked. All these desperate drunks had problems and came here to drink thier sorrows away, she knew this, but however tragic and sad his life was, Yuffie still wanted to give the man a good punch in the face.

But that wouldn't be good.

Yuffie settled on stealing a shiny orb in the man's pocket to redeem himself. The man was too drunk to notice and if he had, he probably would have thought she was hitting on him. She tossed the green materia lightly and caught it in her hands. Although his back was towards her, he looked at her over his shoulder. In his drunken stupor, he hadn't noticed his Materia in the little thieve's hands, but instead stared at the two mounds on her chest.

Obviously the man was not a regular as most never brought in their Materia with them, at least not in this bar. Their Materia always had a funny way of disappearing. Fortunately, they failed to notice they only lost their shiny orbs when ever Yuffie worked.

"I almost feel sorry for taking this," Yuffie said to the man preoccupied by her chest. She threw the materia once again up into the air and with a cheeky grin, she teased the man, "Not!"

Yuffie had to admit it would have looked so much cooler, if only to herself since the man she stole from was too drunk and stupid to care anything, but her chest, if the materia had fallen back into her hands the moment she said 'Not'.

Confusion worked its way into the little ninja as she pouted her lips and looked around the floor. Where was it? She didn't even hear it land! For some reason, as if materia could stop in mid air, she looked up and gasped upon seeing the green glowing orb hung over her in the clutches of black leather gloves.

"Hey!" Yuffie whined, standing on her tip toes to grab the materia, "That's mine!"

Yuffie turned, her arm stretched above her attempting to wrestle the orb out of the man's grip. Suddenly, she froze. Her mouth hung open and her grey eyes widened in shock.

Vincent was surprised the young ninja hadn't dropped the tray, but showed no evidence of it except the glance of his red eyes that stared down at Yuffie. "Yours?" Vincent murmured, his voice barely reached the ninja's ears. The bar, like most, had a high level of volume filled with shouts, unrestrained laughter and the pounding on tables.

"Vincent!" Yuffie squealed, jumping even higher on her toes as her left leg bent back at the knee, "Where have you been, buddy! You disappeared and haven't heard from you since! Ya know, people started to think you were dead! Of course I didn't though, because you can't die until you've tried Moe's Ice cream! Which reminds me, we still haven't gone there yet! But now that the deepground soldiers are defeated you have all-"

"Yuffie," Vincent cut in, in hopes Yuffie would get the hint to stop her rambling.

"Oh, I would hug you Vinnie! But I'm holding this and you're trying to steal my materia!" Yuffie smiled widely, her grey eyes sparkling ecstatically. Despite her smile and her shining eyes, she tugged at the materia in Vincent's hand.

"I think it would be best if you returned this," Vincent said, releasing the orb.

Yuffie dropped back on both feet and pouted. Closing her hand around the materia, she looked at it longingly, "Fine, but consider this your welcome back gift, okay?"

Seeing Vincent had no intentions to reply and just stare at her, Yuffie sighed and turned around. The man had long forgotten her presence, busy downing the beer she'd provided him with. He jumped again, startled when her hand shot forward and placed the materia before him. "Take good care of it, 'kay?" Yuffie said and patted the materia once more before turning back to Vincent. Her eyes were watery, resembling a raining sky and her lips pouted. She was doing her best to give Vincent her sad look, but her silent companion wasn't looking at her.

Suddenly, Vincent leaned towards her, his arm shooting out behind her. Yuffie leaned back, surprised decorated her face. Her cheeks burned and her pulse raced beneath her skin. She gulped and blamed shock for making her feel this way. His face was so close, the smell of gun powder swept her off her feet and she found herself light headed. Attempting to making light of the situation, Yuffie gave a nervous laugh, "Woah! Vinnie, you sure are happy to see me!"

Vincent paid no attention to her. His eyes were trained on the drunken man, his hand around the man's wrist who had made a grab at the ninja's rear. The drunken man looked back at Vincent fearfully. He released the man's wrist only until he was certain the man had gotten his point. The man scuttled away and out of the bar. During his mad flee, he left everything and nothing on the bar.

Finally, Vincent turned his gaze on the ninja who leaned away from his towering figure. He was practically on top of her with her face tilted up towards his. Vincent opened his mouth to say something, but nothing passed through his lips. There was nothing coherent on his mind as his eyes rested on the ninja's parted lips. _'Intriguing,'_ Was the word Vincent had on his mind. He couldn't tear his eyes away, in fact, he felt the need to feel them. An odd feeling over took him and he wasn't sure what to do.

Yuffie watched with frozen breaths as Vincent's brows curved down causing the skin between to furrow slightly. Frustration was written all over his face. Well, maybe not all over as Vincent's facial expressions were minor and limited.

"Um, Vincent?" Yuffie whispered, the nervous pit in her stomach sunk deeper. Was he angry at her? Did he need blood? Was he going to take hers?!

Soon as she spoke, Vincent sprung straight as if some one had shot him. His head bent low and his hand went up to face and covered everything except his right eye. Yuffie didn't know why he chose to hide his emotions behind his hand when his poker face did a great job. Without another word, Vincent strode through the crowd and disappeared up stairs.

Yuffie straightened, a light blush on her cheeks. Was it just her, or was he going to ki- _'No! No! NO!' _Yuffie yelled inside her mind, closing her eyes shut. No, she couldn't make herself believe that. Sure, she liked him, but knew he would never have any romantic feelings towards anyone, but the woman of his past. Over the years, she'd done a good job hiding her feelings, bound and gagged. She didn't need him acting weird towards her to make her feel stupid again.

Suddenly, Yuffie was angry, but not for the reason she expressed, "That stupid jerk! He's been gone for three weeks and he thinks he can walk back in here without so much as an explanation! That- That! Grrr!"

"Yuffie," A feminine voice called behind her, "That was Vincent, wasn't it?"

"Yea," Yuffie sighed, lamely.

"What was that about?" Tifa asked, knowing full well, but she wanted to see what Yuffie thought.

"I don't know! He was just being weird," Yuffie shrugged her shoulders and finally turned to look at the woman behind the bar. Something green and shiny on the bar caught her attention.

"Materia!" Yuffie shouted, delighted the man left it. Before she could grab it, Tifa had it her hand.

"This will pay for his orders," Tifa said, turning the materia in her hand while her eyes flashed mischievously over to Yuffie.

"No, no! Teef, you don't understand, I-I," Yuffie stuttered, leaning over the bar, her free hand shooting out to snatch the materia.

Tifa stepped out of Yuffie's reach and smiled innocently, "Why don't you go help Vincent settle in? It's almost closing time any ways."

"But, Teef!" Yuffie complained loudly, going slack on top of the bar.

"Go help Vincent, I know you want to," Tifa replied, wiggling her eyebrows suggestively.

Yuffie made a gagging noise, but complied. She crawled off the bar and up the stairs, but not before giving Tifa a childish glare.

Tifa sighed, pocketing the materia. She knew Yuffie liked the cold gunslinger and anyone could see if they were to look close enough. Unfortunately, Yuffie was too far in denial that no one like Vincent would like her and became dense and unaware from all the signs. _Unfortunately, _Vincent was too busy drowning in angst and brooding to notice his affection towards the ninja. They were little actions that no one noticed other than Tifa that made her think Vincent did in fact have a soft spot for Yuffie. A _very _soft spot.

Like on their air travels, Vincent always stood near the ninja just in case something happened to her. No one else dared to stand next to Yuffie for fear of her lunch spilling on them. He kept a steady hand on her back or shoulder when ever she threatened to fall. When ever he disappeared from the bridge, Tifa knew he was searching for pills that made her motion sickness go away. Okay, everyone knew about that, but they thought nothing of it because none of them wanted to see Yuffie spewing out her stomach and thought the gunslinger thought like wise. Tifa knew better. He didn't help her because he thought it was disgusting, but because he wanted to ease her pains.

All the two needed was a push in the right direction and Tifa was good at pushing.


	2. Chapter 2

**( Thanks for the reviews! Hopefully, I can start on the adventure part in the next chapter! )**

* * *

Yuffie knocked on the door just to the right of her own, her shoes tapping impatiently against the wooden floor boards as she waited.

Waited.

And waited.

And waited some more.

"Come on Vinnie!" Yuffie called through the door, "Open up!"

Silence replied.

"You better not have disappeared again! I'm giving you five before I break down the door!"

Just as the ninja said, she counted to five and still the door had not opened. Worry consumed her and impatience melted away. She was suddenly afraid he really had disappeared again. With all the strength in her legs, she jumped and smacked into the door, taking it off the hinges. From the floor, she surveyed the unlit room. It was empty.

"Yuffie?"

Yuffie grinned up at Vincent who stood outside in the hall way, "Why didn't you tell me you weren't inside?"

Vincent stared down at her and his lips frowned slightly. She was the last person he wanted to see right now. He was tired and all he wanted to do was rest, but he had the feeling Yuffie wasn't going to let that happen. He missed his days of solitude often. Back then, no one missed him if he decided to disappear and no one flustered over him when he came back. He didn't have to think about other people's feelings. The gunslinger even had a purpose back then, but now that Chaos was gone and although he'll never forget her, Lucrecia, finally felt free to move on. But move on to what exactly? He was at a lost. For now, he was sure of one thing. He wanted to rest, but not in a room with a broken door.

Vincent disappeared from Yuffie's sight. As she sat up, she heard her door close quietly.

"No!" Yuffie gasped and leaped onto her feet. She nearly ran into the wall as she raced out of Vincent's room, a guest room, and banged on her own which was now locked. "Vincent!" Yuffie shouted and shouted, no way was she going to knock down her own door.

Vincent ignored the ninja's pleas as he looked around the room. Clothes and various stuffed animals were strewn across the floor. Surprisingly, he did not see a single materia as he'd always pictured her walls to be covered with them. He avoided the items, making his way onto her unmade bed. The soft mattress sunk under his weight as he laid down.

A sweet, cool scent akin to a spring breeze assaulted his senses. He recognized the scent as Yuffie's. He closed his eyes and buried his nose deeper into his cape thankful of the over powering scent of gun powder that clung to him. Crossing his arms across his chest, his facial features relaxed as he drifted to sleep, Yuffie's voice just outside slowly silenced.

Yuffie crossed her arms and huffed. She stood outside her door a few more moments before she stomped down stairs.

Only half of the customers left and even more were leaving.

"Looks like we'll close right on time," Tifa commented upon seeing the ninja stomping behind the bar. Yuffie only huffed.

"Did Vincent settle in fine?" Tifa asked.

"Yea, just fine," Yuffie mumbled bitterly as she watched Tifa wash the bar with a damp towel.

Tifa wiped down the bar a few moments in silence before she spoke to the silent pouting ninja, "Reeve called me a week ago. WRO is having a Halloween party in two days and he wants us to come. What do you say Yuffie?"

Yuffie perked up immediately, "I'm in, but I only have tomorrow to look for a costume! Why didn't you tell me sooner!"

"I didn't have a reason to," Tifa said quietly, smiling to herself.

"What?" Yuffie leaned towards her, her neck craned at Tifa.

"Nothing."

"I'm gonna go see if I can force Vincent out of my room," Yuffie informed her with her trademark mischievous grin.

"Why would you want to do that?" Tifa called after her, but Yuffie gave no reply. Sighing, she turned her mind onto a more important subject; Yuffie's Halloween costume.

-

Upstairs, Yuffie leaned against the wall and pondered on how to get Vincent out of her room. Radical and extreme, over the top, ideas came to mind like burning down Seventh Heaven or summoning Leviathan which reminded her of all the materia inside her room.

"I got it!" Yuffie gasped, throwing her fist in the air.

Vincent's red eyes snapped as he heard a loud bang on the wall out in the hallway. His eyes turned into a glare and his hand rested against Cerberus at what came next. Yuffie shouted his name for help. There were no hints of a little girl's whine and she sounded like she was in trouble. Despite the ninja's possible harm, he took a subconscious pleasure knowing Yuffie called for him and not Tifa or Cloud.

Outside, Yuffie's fingers clutched her head, inhaled as much air as she could, tightened her throat just a tad bit and drew all the helpless and scary situations she could, pointedly, the time Nero had enveloped her in darkness. As she prepared to release another vulnerable shout of his name, the door opened.

Cerberus greeted her.

The air in her lungs puffed out her cheeks and slowly exited though her lips. She shot Vincent a hesitant smile, "Hey Vincent."

Vincent glared at her, paused then withdrew Cerberus. He stared down at Yuffie whose fingers tangled in her hair, leaning forward slightly. Now that Cerberus was away from her face, Yuffie untangled her fingers from her hair and grinned looking very much like a deranged girl.

"Let's go on the roof and catch up, though I'm sure you were just inside a coffin _inside_ a larger coffin in some cave."

Yuffie was only right about one thing.

-

Despite the ninja demeaning his time away, Vincent sat next to her silently on the roof when she patted the area next to her.

Yuffie knew better than to ask questions about what he was doing and where. Either he'd refuse to reply, or say something about forgiveness and all that stuff Yuffie was long ago tired of hearing.

"You know you missed your birthday!"

"There's nothing to celebrate about my birth."

"..."

"..."

"Geez! Vincent! I'm trying to make light conversations here! Try not to make everything so apocalyptic, 'kay?"

Vincent was silent, but Yuffie swore she saw the corner of his lips twitch.

"Any way, Happy Birthday!" Yuffie smiled and threw her hands in the air. Colorful small pieces of paper twirled around them with the wind until they were carried off and gone. Some got stuck in their hair, but neither minded. The wind came from behind Yuffie, pulling her hair out in front of her while Vincent, who faced Yuffie, his hair was being brushed back along with the end of his cloak.

Vincent's birthday was two weeks and one days ago and yet, Yuffie's eyes shone with the lights of Golden Saucer, her smile sweet, not mischievous and her arms were still up in the air above her, fingers out while her palm faced the moon. She was waiting for his response.

Suddenly, the wind blew again and Vincent found himself reflexively reaching out to her cheek to hold back her hair. His stoic expression slipped away and his red eyes took on a soft far away look as if he day dreamed.

Yuffie's smile faded as she matched his mood, though she was there on that roof with Vincent Valentine and not on some other planet. Her eyes swept over his sincere expression that rendered her insides into gooey mush. Her arms slowly came down to rest down by her side and resisted the urge to place her hands on his and squeeze. He touched her so lightly, she wanted him to press harder so she could feel him and know this wasn't one of her dreams.

All too quickly, the hand retracted and Yuffie found herself missing it.

"Thank you," Vincent said. His voice sounded like he was his usual self again. He turned away from her to face, his right leg drawing up as he rested his right arm over his knee. His cloak came up with his arm creating a curtain between them. All Yuffie could see was the light from Edge below them reflected in Vincent's red eyes.

The cloak felt like a barrier between them. Suddenly, all those feelings of loss building within her over those three weeks exploded. Yes, she fought the thought that he had died, but with the other's gloom, she had to admit it was hard fighting off the thought.

Vincent dead? Gone from the world? His body unfound? Never to give her those silent replies she found to be outrageously mysterious? And everyone expected her to accept that?

Yuffie's hands balled at her sides as tears leaked from her eyes. She gasped and turned away quickly. _'What are you doing!'_ Yuffie berated herself, _'The great ninja Yuffia Kisaragi does not cry! At least not in front of Vincent. Not him! It's about him! No, no, nonononono!'_

"Yuffie?"

"Go away, jerk!" Yuffie yelled through her hands that covered her face.

"Uh...Yuffie?" Vincent reached out to her, but stopped just before he touched her shoulder.

"I don't want you brooding around me! Really, it's not healthy for my diet!"

"I'm sorry. I had no idea my brooding had so many calories," Vincent deadpanned, slowly rising to his feet.

"I'm tired of you always clowning around, Vincent Valentine!"

Yuffie's body came at him, her arms wrapped around his waist as she buried her face into his chest. The sudden action knocked him off his feet and he did his best to brace for impact. They landed with Yuffie's upper half on him, an awkward position, but barely realized it through Yuffie's sniffles and tears.

"I was afraid, Vincent," Yuffie cried, her voice muffled against his chest, "I-I thought you were gone!"

The arms around his waist tightened as Yuffie buried her face harder against his chest. Vincent didn't know what to say. He never was good at consoling people and the fact that he was the cause of her grief made him even more helpless.

"If I had known the grief I gave you all, perhaps I would have-"

"Vincent...Don't you know, I-I..." Yuffie whispered, crawling on her hands and knees stopping directly above him to meet his gaze. Her hands were flat on both side of his head, careful not to crush his hair and her knees held her up on either side of his waist. The moon shone directly behind her casting a pale halo. A tear hit Vincent's cheek and slid down to his jaw as he leaned up towards Yuffie. He pulled her in with her heart wrenching gaze. He wanted to rid of her tears in the most inconvenient way.

Using his left elbow, Vincent slowly got closer to the tearful ninja, his other hand laid against the small of her back, gently urging her to fall.

Yuffie's bottom lip trembled and her tears, though weaker now, dropped against Vincent's cheeks until they too rolled away and disappeared into his cloak. She grasped both sides of Vincent's face, halting his forth coming. Crimson eyes searched hers. Their faces were only inches apart.

As much as Yuffie wanted to kiss the gunslinger, she couldn't. She knew she would never have his heart and to her, it was everything or nothing at all. She found only taking piece only led to a paiaful heart break, though she was never on that end of the pole. Over the years, her unknown love for Vincent held back anything strong or real for the past guys she dated. She couldn't give herself wholly to anyone, but the man underneath her and she knew he was the same with _her_.

Yuffie released his face and stood up, the hand on her back slid off as she did so.

"Good night, Vincent," Yuffie whispered before she stepped out of his sight.


End file.
